It's the Italian job for Arsenal and Chelsea but who will win the Champions League?

The draw for the quarter-finals of the Champions League draw has just been made and both Arsenal and Chelsea must overcome Italian opposition if they are to lift the coveted trophy. Arsenal reacquaint themselves with AC Milan while Chelsea must see off Napoli, who helped knock Manchester City out of...

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Reduce the size of the Premier League? You gotta be kidding me

Sometimes you have to wonder whether football is football anymore. Money has become part of our game for a long time now but the fear of how possessive riches will become, and how their grip will most probably tighten even further to strangle out every last penny from our game, is always in th...

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Arsenal, Coventry and Leicester: Can a new ground be blamed for a lack of success?

It has been a traumatic decade for followers of Coventry City. The Sky Blues were relegated from the Premier League in 2001 and in the proceeding 10 years the Midlands club have rarely threatened a return to the big time. You could argue that the club’s move to the Ricoh Arena has hindered their pro...

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Manchester United got off lightly: Here's five of the worst results ever

Manchester City rocked the champions at Old Trafford, hitting Fergies men for six, but Hugh Larkin recalls five of the worst beatings of all time. As Chris Pettit reminded us elsewhere on this site - Manchester Citys spectacular 6-1 victory at Old Trafford was the second jaw-dropping scoreline of t...

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Tevez, Mourinho and Zidane: Why football loves those shocking moments

When sitting down, reclining and watching the football on the TV, there are a few annoying things that one can expect. The first is that we will be subjected to some truly awful punditry and the second is we’ll probably be listening to the brilliant atmosphere – thousands upon thousands of footb...

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Who will win the Champions League 2011/12?

Spanish giants Barcelona are attempting to make history this season. In May they destroyed Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United to win the Champions League, but no team has managed to keep hold of the famous trophy since it was renamed 20 years ago. However, the bookies firmly believe Pep Guardiola...

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Top 10 bizarre injuries to footballers

Swansea City’s vice-captain Alan Tate is set to miss most of the Swans’ debut season in Premier League after breaking his leg in a freak golfing accident. The versatile defender was a passenger in a golf buggy that lost control and Tate will have to watch the majority of the club’s rollercoaster adv...

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Champions League: Easy group for United, tricky start for City

The draw for the Champions League group stages produced one very easy group for the Manchester pair and one tough one. Manchester Citywill have to work the hardest, but their squad strength should carry them through to the knockout phase at the first attempt, while Manchester United should coast it....

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Arsenal: Samir Nasri - Following Money or The Eastlands Dream?

Arsene Wengers stance on the imminent departure of Samir Nasri from the Emirates has been both refreshing and laden with common sense.He used the analogy that I have always believed in and relates to the normal working world.As much as you may love the company you work for, if you were headhunted to...

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Will the new season throw up any shocks across Europe's top leagues?

Here we go again ... Its that time of year again. Your club has had some embarrassing/great results in pre-season friendlies and the anticipation builds up as the new season approaches, but what can we expect from the big leagues around Europe? Some countries, of course, have already kicked off, su...

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Squarefootball's Fantasy football invitation

There is less than two weeks to go until the start of the 2011/12 Premier League season and time is running out for you to enter the Squarefootball fantasy football competition. Last season more than 100 teams competed for the Squarefootball title, which was won by P Oxenby and his team FC Poxo. He...

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Who is your club’s greatest signing?

It is time to dust out the sheepskin coat and training gear with matching initials. Yes we will soon be picking our fantasy football teams. The right signings will determine your chances of becoming the next Ferguson, Mourinho or Hiddnk. The chequebook has certainly assisted those who play for real....

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What five things would you do before the season starts?

Isn’t it normally New Years Eve when you get a top 100 favourite moments of the year or top 500 best movie credits or some other poor excuse for a programme? Well I thought I would also use it as a poor excuse for an article, but rather than boring you all with a list consisting of 100 or more items...

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Tevez, Modric, Nasri and co - Quit your moaning!

One of the lessons that I had drilled into me as a youngster is the old adage “asking never gets”. Maybe you too can recall a time when you asked your mum for a Penguin or something and she trotted out some half-cocked lecture about it being polite to wait to be offered blah, blah, blah. Well clearl...

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Football in 3D - A new risk to average attendances?

The world has evolved and developed a lot since the 1950s with the invention, evolution and development of everything from bladeless fans to electric cars and high definition broadcasts and beyond, but what have the boffins responsible for 3D been doing for 60 years since its inception? 3D today i...

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Footballers: Why don’t we flog them on eBay?

I have never been to Australia but I know two things for sure about the Land of Oz. One, they are better than us at almost every single sporting activity aside from football of course (although let’s be honest, the England team is not that much farther ahead than the Aussies at this point). Even the...

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The frustrations of being a football fan

As football fans we are a pessimistic breed. No sooner have we finished dancing in the stands or in front of the TV celebrating our club’s promotion, championship, relegation avoidance or cup victory, we turn our attention to the next competition and start convincing ourselves football life will nev...

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Would you like to write for Squarefootball?

Do you live, breathe and sleep football? Do you have a passion for writing and want your views to be read by a potential audience of millions? Then we at Squarefootball Towers would love to hear from you. Whether you follow Aberdeen or Accrington Stanley, West Ham United or Wolfsburg, we can offer ...

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Our opinions on how the Inter vs Bayern Munich CL Final will go

The Champions' League final is bereft of either an English or a Spanish team for only the third time in a decade; in the last ten seasons there have been six Spanish finalists (Valencia x 2, Real Madrid x 2, Barcelona x 2) and six English finalists (Manchester United x 2, Liverpool x 2, Chelsea, Ars...

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Champions' League turns back into the European Cup

Given the dominance of English teams in recent years, and in their turn the Spanish teams and Italian teams before them, the Champions' League has been a curious competition for a few years. It has become less about which is the strongest team, it has been more about which team from the strongest l...

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Bayern Munich v Manchester United- The History

When these two giants were paired in the last eight of theChampions League on Friday, the immediate thought was of the epic 1999 Final- but apart from that contest meetings between these two clubs have been rarer than expected. Bayern were a modest club in the early days of European competition and...

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Chelsea transfer speculation mounts

The coming transfer window is of special importance to Chelsea. Firstly the team is rightly favourites for the title and after three seasons of Manchester United domestic dominance funds will surely be found if it can rubber stamp a title charge. Secondly the Africa Cup of Nations takes Essien, Dr...

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Transfer Speculation: Ryan Babel (Liverpool) to Bayern Munich

Ryan Babel has not been the greatest purchase of Rafa Benitez's six seasons at Liverpool and given the Dutchman's propensity to open his mouth and put his foot in it the News of the World's report that Bayern Munich would like to take him on loan would appear to solve certain problems. The deal out...

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Transfer Speculation: Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) to Chelsea/Manchester City

In Pete Jenson's highly speculative, three paragraph looks-like-it-was-written-whilst-watching-x-factor piece in The People Franck Ribery and Rino Gattuso are both wanted by both Chelsea and Manchester City. Heavens be praised though there is a snatch of a quote from Carlo Ancelotti: "People who d...

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Squarefootball's fantasy football challenge

Do you see yourself as the next Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger? Do you think you can pick a better team than Harry Redknapp or Rafa Benitez? Brilliant, then why don’t you join us in competing for the coveted Squarefootball fantasy league crown? For the past few years we at Squarefootball towers...

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Tottenham Hotspur: Van Nistelrooy or Toni – Who would you prefer?

Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp looks set for another summer of wheeling and dealing in the transfer market, but the former Portsmouth and West Ham United manager isn’t looking at bringing unknown players to the Lane this season. Oh no, he’s being linked with some of the game’s biggest names, ...

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Bayern Munich vs Barcelona: Bayern must show pride - even in defeat

Barcelona all but sealed progression to the semi-final by winning the first leg 4-0; but pride insists that Bayern Munich produce something at home especially with some domestic difficulties as well. Not sure that Jurgen Klinsmann has much future at FC Hollywood, if he is giving the tie - if not th...

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Barcelona vs Bayern Munich: Glamour tie of the round promises goals

In many ways the glamour tie of the round with Bayern Munich who thumped Sporting 5-0 and 7-1 in two completely one-sided games in the last round against tournament favourites Barcelona. The winner could well come from this tie (obviously fans of four English clubs will have a different opinion). ...

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Barcelona v Bayern Munich-The History

Expecting a long article? Well not really because these two giants of the European game have only met twice before and this is the first time in a knockout round of the premier competition. Its an odd situation. In the past few years its been down to luck of the draw. Before the Champions League al...

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Champions League Draw Reaction - Man United vs Liverpool final?

The Champions' League draw for the remaining games in the competition was again dominated by thoughts of how to avoid the English steamroller - even for the English clubs. And unfortunately the draw has thrown up yet another bout of deja vu. The tie of the round for me is Barcelona vs Bayern Munic...

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Please can the English clubs avoid each other in The Champions' League?

One of the traditional delights of European football is to see players on English grounds that would ordinarily only be viewed at the major international tournaments like the World Cup. These days when so many of the games best players are now concentrated in England this is less of a problem. How...

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Bayern's Bonanza And Luxembourg Defences

European football felt just like old times this week. When Bayern Munich thrashed Sporting Lisbon 12-1 on aggregate they revived the days when epic mismatches were a staple diet of the competitions. The way the Champions League and UEFA Cup are organised now, the minnows are kept well apart from th...

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Liverpool look best Champions' League value

After the last sixteen round whittled down the competition to four English teams and four others who now offers the best value? For me Liverpool is set up so well for European games that a run to the final (where anything could happen) seems very possible. Of the eight contenders; Villarreal and P...

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Bayern Munich vs Sporting Lisbon: Bayern seek another five-star display

While all four English clubs face an anxious night in the Champions League, Jurgen Klinsmann’s Bayern Munich have already put down their towels ahead of the quarter-final draw. The German giants destroyed Sporting Lisbon 5-0 a fortnight ago and the Portuguese side will be lucky to leave the Allian...

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Champions' League Preview: Last 16, Sporting Lisbon vs Bayern Munich

Sporting is the 66/1 outsider of the torunament - and with Porto considered the next least likely to win the tournament its clear the bookies don't fancy the Portuguese. Sporting had a tough match at the weekend eventually prevailing 3-2 against title rivals Benfica, in a niggly game punctuated by ...

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Real And Ronaldo Equals United And Hargreaves

The news that Manchester United are reporting Real Madrid to FIFA over their pursuit of Christiano Ronaldo will have raised some amusement in Bavaria. Last summer the German side were forced to allow Owen Hargreaves to move to Old Trafford despite refusing to sell the player more than once. Some e...

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4946: Bundesliga - Bayern Mean Busin

by : Hugh Larkin As if Bolton Wanderers haven’t had enough to contend with of late, the Trotters have to travel away to the Allianz Arena in their UEFA Cup group. At the moment Bayern Munich are not team to encounter with confidence at a low ebb. 2006/07 counted as a disastrous one for Germany’s t...

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4436: Bayern Munich – Losing Their G

by : David Hulott The 2:0 defeat at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday, leaves Bayern Munich seemingly set for their first finish outside the top three since 1994-95 (a season when the top six were only separated by six points). Indeed, since then they have only finished outside the top two on one occasion...

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4367: AC Milan vs Bayern Munich: Bay

by : Antony Melvin Bayern Munich barely created a chance of note before their big Belgian centre-half swung his left leg twice late on and remarkably both shots went in. Van Buyten's performance alongside the rock-like Lucio were the stand-out peformances in a Munich team that could have been buri...

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2529: Champions League: Bayern Munic

by : Chris Sherrard With the Group Stage coming to its conclusion and the top sides in the continent shuffling for places in the pack, the winner of the Champions League race is still hard to predict. Many are staking their claim and many others seem to be doing their hardest to rule themselves ou...

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